The 27 teaching ideas and activities presented in this booklet were developed by Pennsylvania teachers to address four critical experiences in reading and communication arts; responding to literature; sustained silent reading of self-selected books; composing, both orally and in writing; and investigating and mastering language patterns. The entry…

This booklet outlines procedures for evaluating a school district's writing program that was designed to overcome the adverse educational and social effects of minority group isolation by improving the academic achievement of minority group students. The first section describes how the writing program addressed three of the school district's…

Since good prose is usually prose that has been carefully edited, devoting a significant portion of class time to editing should improve the writing and attitudes toward writing of college students in expository writing classes. By requiring students to edit their essays in class, writing teachers force the students to break their writing into a…

A variety of college writing programs was surveyed and evaluated for examples of approaches to the teaching of the writing process in expository, business, professional, and technical writing. Some of the findings are: (1) Freshman composition teachers are focusing more on teaching the composition process than they were before, but one course in…

A survey was conducted to measure attitudes toward writing and toward methods of teaching writing to discover whether or not there were measurable differences between traditional college-aged students and older students and to consider what instructional implications such differences might have. Respondents included 137 students between 18 and 24…

This course on the language of Sri Lanka is intended to be taken under a Sinhala-speaking instructor. This module introduces the Sinhala writing system. The emphasis of the module is on letter recognition. Directions for writing the symbols in the "basic" alphabet are provided so that students will have a culturally appropriate and phonetically…

A guide to the development of a class project in novel writing is provided in this paper. A seven-week production schedule is suggested with projects including: (1) setting, plot, beginning character development, and selecting editors; (2) continuing character development and outlining plot; (3) working on the rough draft; (4) filling in the rough…

Reviews research to establish that it has not proven that instruction in grammar has no effect on student writing. (DD)

Describes a 10-category criteria checklist that identifies skills journalism students have to improve and that emphasizes stylistic details in the context of the larger elements of magazine writing. Includes a copy of the checklist. (FL)

Describes a computerized grading system used in a journalism writing laboratory. (FL)

Applies H. P. Grice's theory of conversation (the Cooperative Principle, and the Maxims of Quality, Quantity, Relation and Manner) to a method of teaching revision. Explains that viewing writing as a cooperative transaction improves students' sense of audience, purpose, and diction. Analyzes a student draft via this method. (JG)

Provides a condensed refresher course in improved proposal writing. Focuses on the following points that are applicable to a range of documents: (1) be persuasive; (2) be logical; (3) control the presentation; (4) review the presentation; (5) make a final evaluation and revise accordingly. (JD)

Outlines the fields that can contribute research results to a theoretical understanding of broad goals that can govern design choices in on-line documentation. Suggests five theoretical precepts and pulls together research pertinent to the four main forms of on-line documentation: tutorials, assistance, messages, and modes of control. (HTH)

Quickwriting, a method for teaching writing to second language learners, features concentrating on content; not worrying about form; and writing without stopping. The process has the key advantage of aiding invention by separating the creating process from the editing process. Other advantages and some disadvantages of this method are discussed.…

Describes a California junior high school program using "Writing across the Curriculum." As the program developed over the years, writing became viewed more as a legitimate learning tool. (MD)